Chapter Text
-1. Small Kisses littered across the face-
The world was dark. Thick clouds covered the moon so no light came through as the rain pelted angrily against the ground and the roofs of the houses beneath. The soft thrumming sound was relaxing to the young hacker that sat in her room. It was midnight, the door open and the only thing illuminating her room was the one small light that sat clipped to the headboard of her bed and the computer screens she was working on.
She was writing an email to Pegasus about the deck she was planning on using for her time as an Eliminator over on Duelist Kingdom. She wanted to try some of the new Red-Eyes cards to create a Zombie themed deck; something to challenge herself as she took out duelists from the competition. Nyx wondered when Duelist Kingdom was going to be announced and how much time she was going to have with the deck she planned to have. The young teenager glanced down at her phone, a small window showing up telling her she had a message.
“Are you still up?
Nyx smiled softly to herself at the message from her friend. She was surprised to see Joey was still awake instead of passed out asleep like he normally was. The teen told him she was and went back to work, tossing her phone somewhere on the bed behind her. She never noticed he hadn’t texted back until she heard a knock on the front door. It made her jump as she wasn’t expecting anyone at this time of the night. Nyx clicked over a couple screens over and looked at their security cameras only to see the young man she was texting earlier. She rushed out of her room to get the door.
“Joey? What are you doing here!?” Nyx softly hissed so she wouldn’t wake her housemates. Her blonde friend looked like a wet rat. His clothes were soaked all the way through and his hair was plastered to his face.
“I uh...I missed you?” he asks, as if trying to convince himself that that was the real reason he was here. Nyx sighed and grabbed his hand, tugging him inside the home before closing and locking the front door and leading him to the bathroom in her room.
“I’m gettin’ water all over the carpet…”
“I don’t care bout that,” Nyx responds. She reaches over the tub and turns the shower on the hot side.
“Get in,” she motions with her head, “take your clothes off in the shower, I’ll go hang them up.” The blonde did as he was told, stepping under the water and letting it warm up his shivering body. He hadn’t even really noticed that he was shivering as he began to peel off the soaked clothes; he didn’t mind the golden eyes wandering over his figure. It was nothing she hadn’t seen before. He would step to the side when she reached in and grabbed his clothes, wringing them out before leaving to probably toss them into the dryer. She came back with a baggy t-shirt and some loose basketball shorts and told him to change into them when he was done.
Joey noticed she was fidgeting and not looking at him. A part of him sighed in frustration about how he looked. He knew he shouldn’t have come here…
The other side knew she was just worried. It was an agitated fidget, like she wanted to do something but was unable to. Joey sighed again and grabbed one of the body wash bottles Nyx used. This one smelt like nectarines or mangoes or some sort of gentle smelling fruit. He smiled to himself as the scent wafted through the shower as he scrubbed his body down, the almost jock-like girl he was with never showed any sort of “girly” type feature so the fact that she had something that smelt so...feminine was a welcome surprise.
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Nyx sat back in her chair, quickly finishing up the email she needed to send to Pegasus. As she clicked “send,” her friend entered her room. She paid him no mind until he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a gentle manner and pressed hesitant kisses to her cheek. He felt a warmth in his chest when he felt her smile. She gently pushed him off and motioned to her bed for them to sit down. Once everything was put away on her screens, except for the security footage, she stopped in her tracks at the sight before her.
Joey lay back on her bed without the t-shirt she had given him earlier. He was messing with his phone and his hair was a ruffled mess from drying it with a towel. She could feel her breath hitch in her throat as her eyes scanned the mounds and valleys his muscles made. But the bruises she could see forming on his torso made her frown.
“I know I ain’t dat pretty but you don’t ‘ave to look at me like dat…” she hears him say. Nyx’s attention came back to reality with his words and she joined him on her bed.
“You’re pretty n‘nuff for me, Joey,” she says, leaning on his side gently while he wrapped an arm around her to pull her close. He smiled when she lay her head against his chest and her fingers began to trace the lines created by his body; she was careful of the forming bruises.
“...Your Dad do this?...” she asks softly. Joey didn’t respond but he knew that she knew the answer.
“One of these days you gotta hit him back Joey…” Nyx growls, “if you don’t I will...”
“I know, Nyxie…” he says, hand now rubbing her arm, “I won’t have anywhere to go though…”
“You can stay here with us. Marcus has already said you can practically move in if you get tired of your asshole Dad.”
I don’t know...moving in seems a little...weird. Like something a boyfriend would do.” He never noticed her golden eyes shift away, almost sadly.
“Right...which were...not…” she answers. We just sleep together...no emotions involved... she reminded herself; that was their promise when they started this whole…”friends with benefits” thing. Joey was her best friend and she couldn’t help it that she had started developing feelings for this kind soul. Nyx huffed to herself and swung her legs over his lap, startling the blonde teen.
“Nyx?...I-I don’t really wanna do anything…” he tries to say before the girl shushes him with a kiss. Joey relaxed into it, wrapping his arms around her waist and began to kiss her back. He whined when she broke the kiss. Nyx eyed the cut on his cheek; it was small but she knew his father had hit him there. The ring on the man’s hand probably cut Joey.
Nyx pressed her lips to the wound softly, giving a feather-light kiss to his cheek. He flinched a little from the touch, the wound still sore to the smallest touch. She dove in for more, pressing small kisses around the wound, to his nose, to his other cheek, even a few on his forehead. Joey began to chuckle softly at her kisses, making the girl smile into each of them. Finally, when his laughter grew too much, his hands pushed gently on her hips to push her away.
“Alright...what was that all about?” he asks with a grin. She shrugged.
“I could feel you brooding in the shower and knowing you,” she presses a finger to his chest, “you’re probably upset about how you look.” Nyx noticed his slight frown that told her she was right.
“As far as I’m concerned Joey...you still look fine to me,” she tells him, moving to sit beside him. She glances at the speaker dock for her old touch screen music player and noticed it was now 1 AM. With a sigh, she turns back to her companion.
“I...won’t do anything to your father unless you tell me to...I don’t like the idea of letting you go back there but…” she trails off with another sigh; this one sounding much more frustrated than the last. Nyx felt Joey’s fingers slide along her jawline tugging her chin so she could look at him. Golden eyes met warm chocolate orbs and they both understood the silent thank you before Joey leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips before doing what she had done earlier and began plastering her face with gentle kisses.
“Joey, stop!” Nyx laughed and gently pushed him away.
“Come on you. Let’s go to bed,” she tells him. The two slid under her covers after she turned the little light off. As Joey settled on his side, Nyx slid an arm around his side and bid him a goodnight with a few kisses to his neck. As she settled down against her lover, she began to press soft pecks to his back in a calming manner. She always showered him with affection in times like this; a silent way of telling him “I’m here.”
Nyx could only hope he was already asleep when her happy expression fell to one of dejection as she whispered “I love you” against his back.